Journal of New Technology and Materials
Volume 4, Numéro 1, Pages 31-34
2014-06-30

The Effect Of Ground Albedo On The Performance Gainp And (a-si: H) Of Solar Cells

Authors : Guechi Abla . Chegaar Mohamed .

Abstract

Solar radiation incident on vertical and inclined surfaces consists of beam, sky diffuse and ground reflected components. The ground reflected component may be significant, particularly in the northern latitudes due to low elevations of the sun and, at times, due to the presence of highly reflecting snow cover. Accurate estimation of ground reflected radiation would require knowledge of the foreground type and geometry, its reflectivity and the condition of the sky. The electrical current generated by the solar cells is very sensitive to the incident spectral distribution and intensity. This distribution varies greatly during the day due to changes in the sun’s position or weather conditions. This work investigates the feasibility of using a solar spectral radiation model SMARTS2 to estimate the global solar irradiance on two different sites in Algeria (Setif and Bejaia) and assess the influence of varying ground albedo on the conversion efficiency of GaInP and amorphous (a-Si: H) solar cells. The results show an augmentation in the short circuit current of amorphous (a-Si: H) solar cell due to increasing albedo. It is 6.25% and 9.84% under global radiation and for Setif and Bejaia sites respectively. However for GaInP solar cell, the augmentation of the short circuit current is 6.97% and 10.93% for Setif and Bejaia sites respectively. Nevertheless, the efficiency increases with increasing albedo for GaInP and amorphous (a-Si: H) solar cells.

Keywords

Ground Reflectance ; Albedo ; Solar Cells, (a-Si:H) ; GaInP; Irradiance